Editing Jean Valjean (section)

=== Part Four: Saint-Denis ===

Only now is when Valjean's and Cosette's life during the last years revealed: They lived in the convent until Fauchelevent's death, and left in 1829; Cosette is fourteen years old. Valjean buys three houses (so that he will always have somewhere to flee to) in Rue de l'Ouest (today Rue D'Assas), Rue Plumet (today Rue Oudinot) and No. 7 Rue de l'Homme-Armé (today 40, rue des Archives), mostly living in Rue Plumet.

Valjean does not know that Cosette returns Marius' love and does not understand why Cosette seems less attached to "her grandfather" than before. He is happy to see that the brand wound he got during the attack makes her worry and care for him more. During one of their walks, they witness the passing of a chain gang being taken from Paris south. The event leaves a profound impression on Cosette and makes Valjean even more determined to stop his ward from learning about his past.

Marius, through Éponine, finds Cosette, stalks her house, leaves his daily love journal for her to find then one evening leaps over the gate and surprises her in the garden. They begin meeting every evening to gaze into each other's eyes. But it is also Éponine, jealous, who throws Valjean an anonymous note, telling him to move. Valjean, feeling threatened since the incident with Thénardier and since he believes there has been a man hiding in his garden, decides to move to England. He takes Cosette to the house in the Rue de l'Homme-Armé. This takes places during the first days of June 1832.

It is only there that he learns of Cosette's love for Marius when a young boy ([[Gavroche]]) delivers a letter from Marius to Cosette, which mentions that Marius is at the barricade and will die as he promised her, since she left without a forwarding address. Valjean has another long inward struggle, at first feeling relief about Marius' certain death, then guilt about his former feeling. He joins the rebellion without an actual decision about his following actions.